Discussion
Well, it is Italian afterall.........
We're talking about Mrs Twin Turbo's '51 plate 156 Sportwagen - 2 litre Twinspark.
I noticed a small (fresh) patch of oil under the car yesterday and (without jacking it up to have a proper look) it appears the back of the sump guard is very oily. There's also some form of crossmember under there that's got a fresh coating too.
Now, I know sump guard takes a bashing every now and again, so I guess the problem could be there, but do you know of any other common problem areas that are prone to leaks?
I'll be popping it down to my friendly mechanic later this week, hopefully, but I'd like to be able to give him some pointers (not that he'll probably need them).
Oh, and all this talk of cambelts? It's not due a service (got 41k on the clock) but I might get them all done if it needs surgery on the leak. So that's one cambelt, the tensioners and possibly a variator right? CHAR-CHING!
We're talking about Mrs Twin Turbo's '51 plate 156 Sportwagen - 2 litre Twinspark.
I noticed a small (fresh) patch of oil under the car yesterday and (without jacking it up to have a proper look) it appears the back of the sump guard is very oily. There's also some form of crossmember under there that's got a fresh coating too.
Now, I know sump guard takes a bashing every now and again, so I guess the problem could be there, but do you know of any other common problem areas that are prone to leaks?
I'll be popping it down to my friendly mechanic later this week, hopefully, but I'd like to be able to give him some pointers (not that he'll probably need them).
Oh, and all this talk of cambelts? It's not due a service (got 41k on the clock) but I might get them all done if it needs surgery on the leak. So that's one cambelt, the tensioners and possibly a variator right? CHAR-CHING!
The usual source of an oil leak is a stripped sump plug thread as they get overtightened...
Only real solution is to get the thread helicoiled which is not a big job. If the sump has been hit, make sure it's not cracked, and keep putting oil in the top!!! At least it won't rust if it's got oil spraying all over the chassis.
If you are over 3years/36,000 miles, I would recommend getting the belts done for peace of mind. If you have a friendly garage and don't work for the Inland Revenue you could buy the bits from somewhere like www.ebspares.co.uk and ask the garage to fit them for pound notes.
EB are very helpful and will advise you exactly what you need. Normal thing is two tensioners, cambelt, balancer belt (on 2.0), and variator. Then just give the big box to your mechanic and leg it. Check he is happy working on Alfas as they need a special cam locking tool.
Only real solution is to get the thread helicoiled which is not a big job. If the sump has been hit, make sure it's not cracked, and keep putting oil in the top!!! At least it won't rust if it's got oil spraying all over the chassis.
If you are over 3years/36,000 miles, I would recommend getting the belts done for peace of mind. If you have a friendly garage and don't work for the Inland Revenue you could buy the bits from somewhere like www.ebspares.co.uk and ask the garage to fit them for pound notes.
EB are very helpful and will advise you exactly what you need. Normal thing is two tensioners, cambelt, balancer belt (on 2.0), and variator. Then just give the big box to your mechanic and leg it. Check he is happy working on Alfas as they need a special cam locking tool.
Thanks for the advice, Wombat Rick.
EB Spares looks like a top place
My mechanic actually specialises in Japanese cars (I've got a 300ZX), and laughed his head off when I told him we were getting an Alfa. Still, at least he knew he'd be able to retire comfortably on the profits he'll make out of me (actually, he's VERY reasonable and doesn't even put a mark up on parts - how rare's that!)
He's serviced the Alfa once already so I'm happy for him to keep looking after it. A good heads-up about the cam locking tool though, ta!
Now, what's best for getting oil patches off the driveway?
EB Spares looks like a top place
My mechanic actually specialises in Japanese cars (I've got a 300ZX), and laughed his head off when I told him we were getting an Alfa. Still, at least he knew he'd be able to retire comfortably on the profits he'll make out of me
(actually, he's VERY reasonable and doesn't even put a mark up on parts - how rare's that!) He's serviced the Alfa once already so I'm happy for him to keep looking after it. A good heads-up about the cam locking tool though, ta!
Now, what's best for getting oil patches off the driveway?
Phew. Seems it was only a split water hose. In my defence the water was obviously picking up oil on it's way through the engine bay onto my driveway
Fortunately, the offending hole was near the end of the hose so Mr Nice Mechanic simply cut the end off and refitted. A new hose is on order though.....closely followed by that cambelt
I gave the car a celebratery wash when I got home (I'm such a saaaaaaaaaad git
)
Fortunately, the offending hole was near the end of the hose so Mr Nice Mechanic simply cut the end off and refitted. A new hose is on order though.....closely followed by that cambelt
I gave the car a celebratery wash when I got home (I'm such a saaaaaaaaaad git
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